nursery

Lottie has now had her first stint at nursery.  She's going to be going 2 mornings a week and we've just started settling her in over the last couple of days.  I left her for about 45 mins today and returned to find a complete meltdown in progress *sigh*.  To be fair she hadn't had a sleep, and was clearly hungry.  By all accounts she'd been doing pretty well until someone came into the room and she suddenly realised I wasn't there.  


Si's taking her tomorrow and going a bit earlier so hopefully the meltdown won't happen quite so early!  I'm so glad they are happy for us to build it up slowly and not just leave her and hope for the best.  I am looking forward to having time to do things round the farm without her.  There's loads I can get done with her on my back, but there's also plenty that I struggle to do.  TBH one of the hardest tasks is sitting down and thinking something through.  I permanently have an ear and an eye out for her and it makes any sort of continuous thought slightly challenging.


I saw the tips of the wild daffodils for the first time yesterday.   The cultivated ones are nearly flowering as are the tulips.  Our entrance gates are finally in, it's only taken us 2.5 years to do it!!  and we can finally shut out the local free range sheep :D 


I've ordered some day old chicks to restart all the breeding stuff that got scuppered by a certain chap in a red coat with a bushy tail over the winter, and the heras fencing panels arrive on Friday to keep everyone safe and sound.  I've ordered all purebreeds, but all with slightly differen purposes.  Some Ixworths as meat birds (or at least the boys will be), some Rhode Island Red for the dual purpose meat/egg laying, some pekin bantams as they are wonderfully cute and make excellent mothers and also some Andalusins to start a breeding pen.  They are funny character birds but lovely to look at and lay lovely white eggs.  The ones we are getting will be a mix of black and splash, so the resulting offspring will all be blue which is the sought after colour.


The new legbar girls are doing a fantastic job of laying eggs, and I'm getting at least 2 a day from the 3 hens.  Our old black rock has come back into lay with brown eggs and the single remaining hen from last years hatch (damn that fox!) has started laying at LONG last with beautiful bright white eggs.  The contrast between the 3 colours is gorgeous, and hopefully when I start selling them other people will agree!!


I may have also accidentally ordered 24 mixed hatching eggs from the wonderful South Yeo Farm where the day olds will come from to collect in 6 weeks (when I go down to collect the chicks).  I'm also going to do a hatch ASAP of Croad Langshans.  I was given a trio for my birthday last year and was aiming to breed from them this year however the red coat bushy tail chap got them and so I'm back to square one.  They are stunning big black birds with lightly feathered legs that have a beetle green sheen to their feathers, and they lay lovely pinky plum toned eggs.  


Don't tell Si, he'll get *that look*!!!

walks and things

I went walking today with three other mamas and a LOT of small children!  We explored dens, and swings and climbed steps.  Lottie delighted in spreading a generous portion of sausage casserole all over the coffee shop where we stopped for lunch.  She's been so delightful the last few days, aside from the waking in the night part, urgle.  I can't believe it's taken me 9 months to actually start enjoying her.  I feel like I've missed out on so much by being so incompetent, and I have so many holes where there should be memories.  I t makes me incredibly sad.


She's learnt (if you can call it that) to stand up while asleep, then wakes up and finds her self upright and is mighty unimpressed.  I do understand that, but I also wish she'd very quickly learn how to lie down again.


It was such a glorious day today, and the solar heating did a fabulous job.  I had the heating on from 10am till 4pm and the collectors were still pumping out enough heat to have a bath this evening.  I like free (ish) hot water!!

Sniffles

Well the inevitable has happened and the bug that Lottie was coming down with earlier in the week has now hit Si and I.  I now understand why she was complaining about it.  I can't stop shivering, it's really very annoying.  Fingers crossed we get over it soon, but right now there's a bar of almond green and blacks calling to me from the kitchen, and maybe a cup of hot milk.  how cool am I!!

Stitch and Bitch

Once a month I meet up with a group of lovely ladies in somerset and we have a stitch and bitch.  So yesterday Lottie and I made the journey down into deepest darkest Somerset and spent several hours in the company of aforementioned lovely ladies.  I'd love to claim that  I managed to achieve lots of stitching, however not a single stitch was knitted by anyone.  Whoops.


Along with another friend here in the Forest, we're going to try and set up a more local group as well.  It would be great for us to have some dedicated crafting time without multiple little people "helping"!!


Rachel and I went to Monmouth today to the yarn shop, we were both very restrained, and I have decided that I desperately need a new knitting project.  Aside from the jumper that shall not be discussed for me, I don't have anything currently on the go.  So I have borrowed a pattern and now need to find a yarn to go with it.  If I haven't reappeared in a week could someone please send out a search party :)

Sleeplessness

Over the last week Lottie's sleeping has progressed from ok to not good to pretty terrible.  It's now half 10 and in the last 3.5 hours she's already woken up 6 times.  I'm seriously considering not going to bed at all, in order to prevent the horrid feeling of having to get out of bed *again*.

On the plus side I managed to get some needlefelting done today.  I've started making felt food for Lottie.  I managed a fried egg, tomato and the basic outline of a banana.  I shall try and work out how to upload photos at some point as well.

spas and sunshine

I had last night off, I went out with a group of friends for dinner and cocktails.  Something I haven't done in a good 2 years.  It felt very good and slightly odd.  Then this morning the lovely Nat and I went to the Relaxation Centre in Bristol.  Utterly indulgent, extravagant, and really really lovely.  

This afternoon we cleared *yet* more brambles.  Honestly I think in my next life I might like to be a bramble, they are so resilient and determined.  I'd love to say that I have those qualities but I 'm sure OH would argue it's less determination and more stubbornness!  

It was beautiful weather today, we sat in a hot tub staring up at the clear blue sky, and then dealing with the brambles in the last of the days sunshine.  It really is beginning to feel like spring.  We've got snowdrops through, and the daffodils and bluebells have poked their heads out.  I'm still waiting to spot the first of the wild daffodils coming through in the fields, then I know spring really is on its way.

Legs the lamb (no they don't all get names, but if you'd seen her when she was born you'd understand why) is doing really well.  She spent the afternoon haring up and down the field in that fantastic bouncy gait that only lambs seem to have.  

I fear it's going to be an indoor day tomorrow, but I've got plans for making some felted food for Lottie.  I figure if I start now, it might be finished by the time she's old enough to play with it!!

First ever softplay

I took Lottie to soft play for the first time today with another mama and after she got over the shock of being completely surrounded by multicoloured balls and toddlers she thought it was quite good fun.  She's a big fan of slides and spent much of her time cruising up and down the netting around the soft play.  I can't believe she's 9 months already.  When did that happen?


She was exhausted after that and lunch so had some lovely sleepy snuggles in the sling.  There really isn't anything that beats the feeling of your baby snuggled up against your neck fast asleep.  She's so scrummy when she sleeps, but then I am a teeny bit bias!


Legs the lamb managed to lose her coat in time for the wet weather to hit, but I've built them a lean to field shelter so they are able to get out of the wind and rain if needed.  We're down to 2 hens now so I need to get some more.  I'm thinking about a couple of ex commercial hens to increase egg numbers.  It's hard to sell eggs when you aren't getting any!  I'd much rather have multicoloured egg sales though, than just boring brown.